No more V8 in F150?

[Green Power]

Greenpower, not correct! Ethanol is about 40% of corn production. Per USDA;

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There also is a large amount of corn that gets exported, which the chart appears to not include. Still though with the 40% number you give, there is corn that is left to rot, and would be even more of it without ethanol production, unless farmers find a substitute crop with a purpose (market)

 

[fordmantpw]

If I'm not mistaken it is because E85 has much hotter exhaust gasses and can cause issues with the BorgWarner turbos being used. Same reason they say not to use Seafoam type fuel system treatments.

That would make sense.

 

[Copperhead]

There is no substitute for more displacement or increasing the number of cylinders. HS

Yeah, right. Like how my 2000 12.7L Detroit 6 cylinder can regularly smoke 2015 15L Detroits and Cummins 6 cylinders on hills pulling up to 80,000 lb. And do it with no more than 900F EGT's at the turbo with a blanket on the turbo. And no.. it is not tuned up or some other nonsense. Just a ceramic/ported/polished exhaust manifold, a better BW 171702 turbo in place of the OEM waste gate turbo, and good exhaust flow. Engine settings are purely OEM stock ECM settings.

 

[Copperhead]

I think everyone is trying to get away from anything ethanol...let alone E85.

Maybe in some circles. I use it in various blends depending on the price spread. It is more cost effective even with the lower mpg. I am a cost per mile person, I have a good working knowledge of the fuel economy of my flex fuel vehicles with various blends of ethanol. E10, E15, E20, E30, and E85. As prices fluctuate seasonally, one fuel may have a lower cost per mile than the others. Right now and for a while, that has been E15. A few years ago, it was E85. Different areas of the country, prices are different and that may not be the case. I will buy some ethanol free gas for some special small motor applications, but the price to high to consider for my vehicles.

 

[Copperhead]

Greenpower, not correct! Ethanol is about 40% of corn production. Per USDA;

View attachment 468860

And while that is true, what gets overlooked in many of those little charts is that, of the the corn used for ethanol production, out the back end of the ethanol plant comes corn oil, livestock protein feed supplements (which are highly desired for poultry and livestock feed producers), polymers for plastics, etc. Corn that goes into ethanol production is not lost to anything else. In fact, if it were not for the ethanol production plants, it would be harder and more costly to get the separate products mentioned. Ethanol production is more than just ethanol. Anyone who lives near something like the Blair, NE biofuels plant need to see what is going on there. A major refinery complex that produces a lot of products from corn that requires a constant flow of truck and rail cars. I haul many truckloads of livestock feed supplements from it to feed mills and poultry operations.

 

[Renze]

You do know that the 3.5 ecoboost block has 6 bolt mains and it supports the forged crankshaft with a girdle...right?

We're Talking low compression gas engines. The static compression ratio is lowered in order to prevent knocking. Which results in max piston pressure not that much beyond a naturally aspirated gasser.

The bottom end isnt the exciting part. It's the valves and rings, that have to take a higher thermal load.

 

[Sysop]

The bottom end isnt the exciting part. It's the valves and rings, that have to take a higher thermal load.

Seems to me they must be designed to take the higher heat/"thermal load" when you consider the hotter stuff like E85 or Seafoam treatments in them burns up the turbos rather than the valves and rings. They beefed up what was needed to meet their goals. What they learned from the process will shine through on future versions. Not saying there's anything bad about it now, but it's only going to get better...

 

[joefromga]

This video shows that the ecoboost was designed to be better than the old v8:

 

[houstonscott]

Wonder how any Ford would do in this test? Killing a Toyota Part 1 - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube Killing a Toyota Part 2 - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube

Killing a Toyota Part 3 - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube

 

[aczlan]

Wonder how any Ford would do in this test? Killing a Toyota Part 1 - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube Killing a Toyota Part 2 - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube
Killing a Toyota Part 3 - Top Gear - BBC - YouTube

Considering that you are comparing a computer controlled engine to a mechanical diesel that just needs power to the fuel solenoid and to the starter to start/run, probably not well, but it would probably do as well as the V8 (or any of their current competitors).

Aaron Z